THOUSAND OAKS : Actor Pleads No Contest to Assault

While still maintaining his innocence, television star Sasha Mitchell pleaded no contest Tuesday to assaulting his pregnant wife in their Westlake home earlier this year.

In criminal court in Ventura, a no-contest plea is the same as admitting guilt. But the plea cannot be used against a defendant facing civil litigation.

The professional kick boxer was accused of hitting and kicking his pregnant wife on two separate occasions in April.

He was also convicted of child endangerment because the couple’s 7-year-old daughter watched one of the assaults, Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. John D. Colombo said.

But defense attorney David Dudley said Mitchell disputes those allegations, but pleaded no contest Tuesday to avoid a trial where his family would be called to the witness stand.

“His wife and he have reconciled,” defense attorney David Dudley said. “Going to trial was not exactly in the best interest of keeping the family together.”

Mitchell, his hair slicked back, appeared in court wearing a fashionable beige suit, blue shirt and no tie. As Dudley entered Mitchell’s plea, the star of the television sitcom “Step by Step” stood silently chewing gum.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on the three misdemeanor charges Sept. 21. It is expected he will receive probation and be ordered to attend a counseling program, Colombo said.

“I don’t think this will have any adverse impact on his career,” Dudley said. The new season for “Step by Step” airs next month and the reruns will air in syndication, Mitchell said.

“Be cool,” the 27-year-old actor told reporters and photographers as he left the Ventura County courthouse to film an episode of the sitcom in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon.